1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to gastric surgery. More particularly, the invention relates to a method and apparatus for sealing a gastric opening in a manner facilitating transgastric surgery.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Morbid obesity is a serious medical condition. In fact, morbid obesity has become highly pervasive in the United States, as well as other countries, and the trend appears to be heading in a negative direction. Complications associated with morbid obesity include hypertension, diabetes, coronary artery disease, stroke, congestive heart failure, multiple orthopedic problems and pulmonary insufficiency with markedly decreased life expectancy. With this in mind, and as those skilled in the art will certainly appreciate, the monetary and physical costs associated with morbid obesity are substantial. In fact, it is estimated the costs relating to obesity are in excess of 100 billion dollars in the United States alone.
A variety of surgical procedures have been developed to treat obesity. Some of these procedures involve transgastric access to the stomach. However, these procedures have not been fully developed due the limited availability of tools necessary in performing transgastric procedures. In particular, transgastric procedures require a seal be positioned between the stomach and the peritoneal cavity, a mechanism for anchoring instruments to the gastric wall to allow the instruments to be triangulated so as to effectively work with the tissue and the ability to easily find the opening on reinsertion of the device. The present invention provides a device that accomplishes these three functions.